Northern Women Arts Collaborative

Early Medieval Embroidery, Women and Creativity.

By Alexandra Makin. I’m a textile archaeologist specialising in early medieval embroidery but I’m also a professional embroiderer, having trained on the Royal School of Needlework’s three-year apprenticeship. I’m particularly interested in early medieval embroidery because it offers so many opportunities to explore not only the technical attributes of fibres and stitching, or designs and…

Studio H Canada International Art Residency – Call to Artists

We are pleased to announce that the Studio H Canada International Artist Residency is now accepting applications. This unique residency is custom-designed to meet your individual needs and goals in a safe and supportive environment. Artists are invited to apply now for art residencies of any duration in this idyllic setting on Vancouver Island in…

Women Do Archaeology: Women, cloth, looms, and power in the Viking and Medieval North Atlantic

Dr. Michèle Hayeur Smith When cloth became the basic unit of currency in the medieval Icelandic economy, women–the sole weavers in Norse society–found themselves literally weaving money on their warp-weighted looms. These textiles are an abundant, rich, and diverse archaeological source for learning about women in the past. In this talk, Michele Hayeur Smith will…

The Indigo Iona Saga and the Settlement of Iceland

Today’s featured post is by G. Scott MacLeod, who has successfully embodied the mission of the Northern Women Arts Collaborative by combining both scientific research and art. Based on an exhibit and research project carried out at the National Museum of Iceland, Scott has created a film and graphic novel about the life of a…

THE VALKYRIES LOOM: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF CLOTH PRODUCTION AND FEMALE POWER IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC. By Michèle Hayeur Smith.

Introducing a new book by one of NWAC founding members on the textile traditions of the North Atlantic, from the Viking Age to the Early Modern Period. To be published on November 3rd, 2020 with University Press Florida. “An impressive presentation of Viking Age and medieval textile production in the North Atlantic, especially in Iceland…

The Borgund Kaupang Project, Norway.

https://youtu.be/h3lBIp4byqQ The site of Borgund Kaupang located on the western coast of Norway in the vicinity of Ålesund, is a Viking Age harbor and trade site where occupation and commerce continued until the Late Middle Ages. It was also a medieval ecclesiastic center with evidence of 4 churches, possibly even 5. It is not yet clear…

Pile Weaving on the Warp Weighted Loom in Norway.

Osterøy Museum, Hordaland, Norway. A while back we did a post on varafeldir by Hildur Hákonardóttir which is the Icelandic term for pile weaving. In Norway it is known as the same thing, varafeld. It is unclear where this technique originated but evidence suggests remote origins in the Mediterranean where to this day, various types of…

THE FABRIC OF OUR LAND Salish Weaving Exhibit – Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia

Salish weavers would sometimes unravel the colonists commercial wool products for their own work – adding in duck feathers, down skins, or woolly dog to improve the properties and quality.

Research upends theory that Vikings taught Inuit how to spin yarn.

Article was published in the Globe and Mail, July 22 nd, 2018. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-research-upends-theory-that-vikings-taught-inuit-how-to-spin-yarn/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=Referrer%3A+Social+Network+%2F+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links This is based on research conducted by Michèle Hayeur Smith, Kevin P. Smith, and Gørill Nilsen. Michèle is part of the Northern Woman Arts Collaborative. The paper was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science last week. The academic paper demonstrates that…

Artists and climate change

For those among you interested in climate change and the North specifically, this site and project was brought to my attention by Chantal Bilodeau, its creator. Chantal is a playwright and is the artistic director of The Arctic Cycle , Founder, Artists & Climate Change, Co-founder, Climate Change Theatre Action , Curator, Theatre in the Age of Climate Change Check out Chantal’s…

Stringing Together Purpose and People

I remember playing Cats Cradle as a kid in New Jersey. I never really thought about where the game came from. Recently however, while talking with anthropological archeologist Michele Hayeur Smith, I learned a bit about Inuit culture and life in the Circumpolar Region that led me to do further research and to the…

Norse North Atlantic Textiles and Textile Production: a reflection of adaptive strategies in unique island environments.

Paper presented at the 3rd International St. Magnus Conference: Visualising the North 14-16 April 2016, in Kirkwall, Orkney.